This is the story of a man and his dog, owners of a coffee shop that honestly has not been doing so well since they opened. And the fact is that starting a business after a pandemic, in the middle of an inflammation, is very hard. However, the owner and his dog open the cafeteria every day at 8:00 a.m., prepare the tables, the machines, get the place ready to receive the customers, few of them arrive...
Luckily the owner does not depend solely on this income (speaking of economy), he has his pension and his children support him, however, in the deepest part of his heart he wishes that his café would attract more attention, that it would be a busier place than it really has been.
The place is warm, cozy and the decor is almost homey, familiar... many people have complimented him on this. However, he also knows that perhaps this is not what attracts the most attention at the moment, it is probably more fun for people to go to a Commercial Café, an internationally recognized brand...
On the afternoon of December 20, the owner sees people passing by the front of his store, carrying large bags of gifts, bottles of wine and packaged sweets. Despite the bustle on the street, he only receives 4 or 5 customers, enough to make it not a bad day, but not enough to meet his expectations. This saddens him.
At 7:00 p.m. when it starts to get dark, his mood is no longer gray and gloomy. Suddenly he is contagious by the glow of Christmas lights, the bustle of people on the street, and one Christmas caroling in the background a few blocks away. He feels that the spirit of Christmas has come to his Cafeteria and that perhaps this is not a time to "Receive", but to "Give".
The owner prepares 10 liters of coffee, prepares thermoses and plastic cups, closes the shop, and together with his dog, distributes free coffee throughout the area: to the people in charge of picking up garbage from the streets, to the homeless, to the street vendors who are very cold and even to those who are waiting in line to enter a store to buy their gifts. The smile of the people who receive this hot and well made coffee is enough to make the Owner and his Dog feel that it has been a great day.
When you have a store or offer a service, it is not always economically profitable as you imagine or dream. For some businesses, the holidays mean a lot of movement and sales while for others, the economy comes to a halt at times, hopefully this Christmas we can support more small businesses.
🌲 ❆ 🎄 ❆ 🌲 ❆ 🎄
This is my participation in this week's #SPILLTHEBEANS Creative Writing Challenge. Whose theme this time is:
Festive Coffee:
To help prepare us for the coming holidays and get us into a festive spirit, tell us a Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or any other festive holiday-themed coffee story.